Charlotte Wheeler
Year 2 Champion Circular Food Systems
Charlotte has worked in the agricultural sector for the past decade, as a farmer, in academia, and currently for Pasture for Life, where she established their regional farmer knowledge exchange groups. Recently she has moved into a new role as Research Officer at Pasture for Life, synthesising relevant research for a farming audience, as well as working on an inter-organisational project on the development of local and alternative supply chains. Charlotte is interested in exploring the role that agroecology can play in contributing to the UK food system’s resilience to climate change, and the synergies between low-input farming, biodiversity restoration, and equitable, just food systems.
Multifunctional Metrics: Rethinking sustainability in food systems
This paper argues that agroecology and circular farming practices such as agroforestry, crop-livestock integration, and low-input livestock systems warrant a much larger role in food system transformation than currently reflected in the research and policy landscape, due to their ability to deliver against multiple ambitions.
Multifunctional Metrics: Examining Circular Practices at the Farm Level
The need for change in the food system is clear, yet the path forward must balance environmental restoration with the practical realities of farm economics and food production. The circular practices outlined in this document are some of the promising approaches that demonstrate potential for delivering co-benefits across multiple sustainability criteria, as outlined in Part 1 (Multifunctional Metrics: Rethinking sustainability in food systems). Crop–livestock integration, agroforestry, and low-input livestock systems on diverse swards offer the opportunity to increase circularity at the farm level, enhancing ecological resilience, storing carbon, supporting biodiversity, and creating farm enterprises that are more adaptable to the impacts of anthropogenic climate change.
DIGEST: Learning from the Champions, Part 1
In this digest, we cover the work of three Champions – Charlotte Wheeler, Emily Norton and Saher Hasnain.
Agroforestry Research and the REFOREST Project
Monday 28th October 2024, 3:30–5pm
Organised by Charlotte Wheeler, Year 2 AFN Champion for Circular Food Systems, join Tom Staton of Reading University and Will Simonson of the Organic Research Centre. The webinar will cover agroforestry's potential contribution to net zero, its knowledge infrastructure and how it has evolved over recent decades.
Herbal Ley and Diverse Swards Webinar
Monday 4th November 2024, 6–7:30pm
Organised by Charlotte Wheeler, Year 2 AFN Champion for Circular Food Systems, join the Soil Association and Pasture for Life for a webinar on herbal leys, featuring expert guest speakers Siobhan Griffin from Next Level Grazing, and Sam Lane from Cotswolds Seeds.
Winter Webinar: Integrating Diverse Leys and Livestock into Arable Rotations
Monday 18th November 2024, 3:30–5:00pm
Organised by Charlotte Wheeler, Year 2 AFN Champion for Circular Food Systems, join Professor Jonathan Leake from the University of Sheffield, Dr Lydia Smith from NIAB, and Dr Emily Cooledge from Bangor University for a whistlestop tour of their research surrounding the integration of herbal leys/diverse swards into arable rotations.
